Coal separator and cleaner



(No Model.)

A; 0. SMITH 82: M. K. BISHOP.

COAL SEPARATOR AND CLEANER.

Patented June 16,1891.

INVENTOR 4 p m fl 71 A. M

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ANDRIUV C. SMITH AND MARCUS K. BISHOP, OF SCRANTON, PENNSYLVANIA.

COAL SEPARATOR AND CLEANER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 454,148, dated June 16,1891. Application filed December 17, 1890. Serial No. 375,012. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, ANDREW 0. SMITH and MARCUS K. BISHOP, citizens ofthe United States, residing at Scranton, in the county of Lackawanna andState of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Coal Separators and Cleaners, of which the following is so full,clear, and exact a description as will enable others skilled in the artto which our invention appertains to make and use the same, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings.

Our invention relates to screening and separating machines, and moreparticularly to a machine for separating the smaller sizes of coal fromeach other and from the fine dust which usually accompanies such coals.

The object of ourinvention is to produce a convenient, effective, andeconomical machine which will rapidly handle the coal or other similarmaterial fed to it, and at one and the same operation dry the coal, ifmoist, and clean and separate it.

\Ve will now proceed to describe ourinvention, reference being had tothe accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective View of asingle machine. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal central sectional View of twomachines arranged in series, and Fig. 3is aview of aremovable coverwhich may be placed over the screen.

WVc shall first describe a single machin e and afterward point out howtwo or more such machines may be connected together or used in series toobtain results which are sometimes desirable.

In the drawings, A indicates a casing or trunk through which thematerial to be separated isforced by ablast of air from a blower D. Thetrunk is relatively narrow and deep at one end and wide and shallow atthe other the latter being the outlet end (1. Above the trunk at itsnarrow end is a hopper B, having converging sides, and at the bottom ofthe hopper is a feed-wheel 0. Near the bottom of the hopper is an apronor deflecting plate 1), extending from one side across and downwardwithin a short distance of the other side, thus forming a contracteddischarge-opening at one side of the hopper.

The feeder O is composed of several radial paddles upon a shaft 0,forming a feed-wheel.

This feed-wheel is arranged within partial cylindrical casings c, whichfit sufficiently close to the paddles to prevent upward currents of airthrough the hopper.

The blower may be of any design suitable for generating a blast of air;but we prefer a fan, as shown, arranged within a casing, whichcommunicates directly with the trunk A, the blast passing under thefeed-wheel.

The bottom of the trunk may be horizontal,

.but is preferably inclined slightly downward toward itsdischarge-opening a to facilitate the passage of the material to beseparated. At this discharge-opening a screen F, located in the path ofthe blast, extends outward and upward, making a considerable angle withthe axis of the trunk, the bars of the screen preferably running in thegeneral direction of the axis of the trunk. Below the screen is a chuteG, into which all the dust and fine grades of material which pass thescreen may enter. This chute may lead the dust away to a dirt-pile, or,if it contains particles large enough to be of value, the chute maycommunicate with a second separating-machine having a screen of finermesh, and this second machine may communicate with a third, and so on,carrying the divisionas far as desirable. In Fig. 2 of the drawings twomachines thus connected together are shown in section.

From the upper edge of the screen F a chute H leads the coal or otherlarge particles of material which pass over the screen away by gravityto a suitable receptacle or deposit place.

The trunk A is made relatively narrow and deep at the hopper and wideand shallow at its mouth Ct, so that the material which is fed from thehopper will be spread in a thin sheet by reason of the shape of thetrunk and the blast of air, and is thus projected evenly over the entirewidth of the screen. In order to get the best effects, it is necessaryto construct the mouth of the hopper very wide and shallow-say, forinstance, ten feet wide and but two inches deep-end in order to preventlumps of c l or other substance which are too large to pgss the mouth afrom entering the trunk, the apron b is arranged to contract the loweropening of the hopper until it is of no greater width than the mouth aof the ICO trunk. This also prevents the entrance of lumps of materialwhich are too large and heavy to be readily moved by the blast.

The cover shown in Fig. 3 may be arranged on the trunk so as to coverthe screen, if desired; but we find that it is not necessary to thesuccessful operation of the machine.

The blower and feed-wheels may be operated by any suitable belting orgearin As shown, the feed-wheel shaft 0 is operated from a suitablesource of power by means of a pulley P, and the blower is connected tothe shaft 0 by a belt K; but we do not confine ourselves to anyparticular form of driving mechanism.

The operation of our improved separator is as follows: The material tobe separated-- fine coal and dust, for instance-is placed in the hopperB and discharged therefrom continuously into the trunk by means of thefeeder. The blast of air generated by the blower drives the materialthrough the trunk and delivers it onto the screen ina thin layer withconsiderable force. As the screen lies directly in the path of theblast, the air and with it the dust and fine particles of coal pass intothe chute G, while all of the particles of coal which are too large topass the screen are shot over it onto the chute ll. Should the materialbe damp, the current of air passing through the particles will dry themand the impact upon the screen will shake off the dust, thus at one andthe same operation drying, cleaning, and separating the coal.

The essential features of our machine are a trunk, a blower for blowinga blast of air through the trunk, a feeder, and a screen arranged at themouth of the trunk and at an angle with the bottom of the trunk.

It will be evident that various changes in the details of the mechanismmay be made without departing from the spirit of our invention, andtherefore we do not limit ourselves to the precise construction andarrangement of parts shown.

\Vhat we claim isl. The combination of the trunk, the feeder and blowerat one end thereof and the screen at the other end, said screen being inthe path of the blast and inclined at an angle to the axis of the trunk,substantially as described.

2. The combination, with the trunk relatively narrow and deep at one endand wide and shallow at the other, of the feeder and blower at theformer end and the screen at the latter end, said screen being in thepath of the blast and inclined at an angle to the axis of the trunk,substantially as described.

The combination, with the trunk, of the feeder and blower at one end,the screen inclined upwardly from the bottom of the trunk at the otherend, the dirt-chute beneath the screen, and the coal-chute at the upperend of the screen, substantially as described.

4. The combination, with the trunk relatively narrow and deep at one endand wide and shallow at the other, of the hopper at the narrow end ofthe trunk, said trunk and hopper having discharge-openings substantiallythe same in least dimension, and the blower and screen, substantially asdescribed.

5. The combination of several screening and separating machines arrangedas set forth, and each comprising a trunk, feeder, blower, a screeninclined to the axis of the trunk, and chutes for conveying the smallerand larger coals from the screens separately, substantially asdescribed.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures in the presence of twowitnesses.

ANDRFHV C. SMITH. MARCUS K. BISHOP.

Vitncsses:

.lAs. II. TORREY, ARTHUR C. LOGAN.

